Chapter 28
THIS IS NOT A PLACE YOU LEAVE
That night, while lying in bed in the comfort of Ren’s cottage, I can sense something is wrong with the man curled up behind me. He’s been quiet, contemplative in my presence since we found out Nix was alive. Rolling over slightly, I ask the darkness, “What is it?”
Melek’s gruff voice clears beside me. “We need to talk.”
Ominous. Vague. My favourite.
If I had the strength to sit up, I would. Instead, I choose to make myself comfortable, looking up at the lush moon-filtered canopy before us. Sunny sleeps soundly beside me, and right now, I wish I had his childish, carefree nature.
“Okay.”
“Okay,” my husband repeats—a bit condescendingly, I may add. He lies on his side, looking down at me, playing with the ends of my hair.
Taking a shaky breath, I feel him land in my marrow, his smooth, intoxicating smell grounding me. “Before you start, I need you to hear me when I say I don’t want to talk about anything other than us staying here. Being a family. So I’ll answer the question before you ask it. I’m not leaving.”
“Wife.” His voice is gravelly but luxurious as it glides over my skin, pinpricks running the length of my body. “Just listen to me. That’s all I need.”
A swift kick comes from inside my stomach. Two against one. Nice. Pushing down at the wayward foot, I answer, “Fine.”
“Good girl,” he murmurs fondly, kissing my forehead.
Angling up, the whites of his eyes shine brightly down at me.
I can’t stop the brattiness that comes out when we are like this, so I add with snark, “Go ahead, then.” The need to pull his lips to mine is forceful, so I quickly look away, trying to focus.
He wants to take you away from this place, remember?
His fingers find the strap of my nightgown, aimlessly playing with the thin material. “We’ve run out of time in this place. No doubt, they’re already readying Halo for evacuation. If we stay here, we are dead. If we borrow some kelpies, we could be back at Halo in a couple of days’ time. Safe.”
Strong, thick fingers go to wrap around my jaw and cheek, like my form is moulded just for him, the perfect fit every time. Yet he forgets my will holds magnitudes, and he is mine. The reverence in his laser focus through this filtered night is enough to tell me that.
“Did you discuss this plan with Ren?”
“I don’t see the point in concerning the whole of this place when they have no avenues of retreat. Better they live out their days in peace.”
On hearing his callousness, my body springs to life. Pushing him aside, I sit up, solence pumping, agitation working its way throughout my limbs. “So you would condemn a whole community because you think they have no better options?” I hiss lowly, careful of the sleeping child next to us.
Silver swirls of molten lava sparkle to life, his hands gripping the sheet.
“I’m not condemning anyone. I’m giving them peace.
An option I wish we had. If I were none the wiser about what the empire have planned, I would happily stay ignorant.
However, I know the intricate details of this situation, and I will not have you or Sunny in harm’s way.
” He hits his sternum harshly. “I literally cannot not protect you from this. The mate bond is wearing down my reserves. The damn beast in me wants to fling you and Sunny over my shoulders and run until I hit the Elysian underground stronghold.” As if to prove his point, a faint snarl comes from his throat, which he swiftly clears.
“Hypothetically”—when kelpies fly—“let’s say I agree with this. How are we any safer in this Empire?”
Warm fingers find mine, holding tightly. “Each member of the council and other high-ranking families has lodgings in the underground empire. It’s already a bustling metropolis, no different from Halo. You and the children won’t need or want for anything.”
I snicker under my breath. “And what of everything we already know of the hollow and how they treat fae, your own kind? Your children’s kind. They drink fae solence, they keep seronds, and we both know they aren’t above killing for the sake of it.”
“Those things will never touch you or Sunny.” There’s no guarantee of that. “Or Phoenix.” If what Sera said is true, Phoenix will be more fae than human, and I can’t risk that. I won’t—not even for the man I love.
“Stop trying to kid yourself. There’s no hiding what lives in plain sight.”
“I’ve ensured our family’s safety. Is that not enough?”
I want to scream. Is that not enough? Why can’t it be enough?
My husband. The person who has all of me, whom I just found out I’m mated to, has done everything to keep our children and me safe.
But he forgets this fight was never about me.
It was always about the bigger injustice.
The unfairness of my people’s existence.
The unbalanced exchange of power. It was never about what we are together.
I don’t just dream of safety for myself, but everyone else like me.
It’s how my mother raised me. It’s her last legacy, and I won’t let that go. “No.”
My answer lands heavily in the warring atmosphere between us. We sit in silence for beat after blustering beat, both of our stubborn natures preventing us from breaking the hush that has descended.
To my utter surprise, though, Melek speaks up, conceding. “I will speak to Ren in the morning.”
Sliding back down the bed so my front is firmly pushed against his, I grasp his newly smoothed cheeks. “Thank you.” I kiss him the way I’ve been wanting to since I started this conversation—with burning passion. He groans, pulling me in closer. I wiggle in as close as my bump will allow.
“So what is that little rat bag in there going to be called?” The question is in jest. However, I’ve secretly been dying on the inside to share this with my brother.
We sit under a fruiting apple tree overlooking the large grassy field next to the outdoor dining area.
Melek is playing tag with Sunny and some other fae children, and I can’t keep the wide grin off my face at watching his happiness unfold before me.
This is everything I wanted. A happy family…
A safe, happy family. There’s that pesky word—safe.
We have to be secure within the dome of the Willow.
Their magic is strong. It will hold against whatever Halo has in store.
Melek is wrong. My only regret, the factory farmers. What will be their fate in all of this?
Moving to take my brother’s hand, I find scars, much like my own, etched into his skin, his more prominent than mine.
After he allows me to trace a particular ragged mark he got when he slipped while welding, I place his palm on my stomach, where his namesake is becoming more active by the day.
“Phoenix.” I peek up at him. He stares, unblinking, at our connection.
“Yeah? What is it?” Nix asks, as if I didn’t just give him his answer.
“Oh, god. You dumb idiot. That’s her name. The baby. We’re calling her Phoenix.”
Soulful brown eyes flare with understanding. The breeze around us picks up the doughy scent of fresh bread on our horizon. My mouth waters. Everything about this land is better. The air. The food. The people.
My brother pats my stomach. “You’re calling her Phoenix? My name?” He seems to be having a real hard time swallowing the news, so I make it easier for him to comprehend.
“Yes. I’m naming this baby after you.”
Eyes wander over my face, searching for something. Once he finds his answer, he bobs his head, blinking furiously.
“Save me, Mama.” Sunny runs at full speed into me, all the air leaving my lungs. I hold him tightly.
A shadow forms over us. Imposing. Protector-shaped. “You can’t run to your mama when you don’t want to be tagged, son.”
Sunny’s head peeps out from my shoulder, poking his tongue out at his father.
Phoenix jumps to his feet, a glorious smile on his face. “Good luck.” He pats my husband’s shoulder before walking to where a certain pink fae has appeared across the way, waving at him.
Giving Sunny one last crushing squeeze, I release him.
“How about we go explore?” One of our favourite games in the limited warmer months, before the air got stifling, was pretending we were adventurers, exploring the wild wood behind our house.
Sunny’s treehouse was our ship, taking us to far-flung, uncharted lands.
Not that I was ever allowed to enter said ship; the ladder was as far as he’d let me go.
Gleaming with joy, the grey of his hollow irises brings a whole new meaning to his innocent face. “Can we, Mama? Ren said they have a shop where you can see a man bend steel with his mind.” Jumping to his feet, the boy is now in front of me, no longer playing at being scared.
Melek stands behind Sunny, taking us in, arms relaxed by his sides, face devoid of lines that would show his usual commander weariness.
Surely, he feels it too. This place. There’s an understanding here, one our souls naturally gravitate to.
This land is home. Here, there are powerful goddesses looking after us, providing for us, and keeping us safe.
Unlike Halo.
What winged god would let his people condemn others to such a harrowing existence? One where you dreamed of death. Halo isn’t a place built on community. It was built on lies. A his-story of censorship. My soul never sang in that land. It was hanging on by a thread.
In the Fairy Lands, my soul flies.
We aren’t meant to leave this land.
This is where we belong… Under the trees, witnessing the beauty of nature, wrapped in the kindness of strangers. Where happiness is a given, not earned.
I can’t go back to Halo. It’s resounding. This is not a place you leave.
“Storm?” Melek questions. I shake my head, realising I’ve been staring at him, his hand outstretched for me, Sunny grasping his other.
“Come on, Mama, let’s go.”
Taking Melek’s palm, I watch how it swallows mine whole.